


Pendant

by GayKaiba



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:28:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28413921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayKaiba/pseuds/GayKaiba
Summary: gift fic for xdungeondicex
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Otogi Ryuuji | Duke Devlin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Pendant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Traumastrike](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Traumastrike/gifts).



“Hey uh.. Can I borrow that necklace I gave you?” Jonouchi scratched at his nose as he spoke, nervous and knowing it wouldn’t be easy to explain why he needed it back.

Otogi froze for a moment, hand reflexively reaching to hold the amazonite charm. He was worried, and not trying to hide it. He had been cherishing this necklace since it had been given to him. “Wh..” He furrowed his brows, looked down for a moment in his confusion, then met Jonouchi’s eyes. “What’s going on? Why do you need it?”

“I-uh..” He fumbled his words for a moment, he had never been very good at lying, and he hadn’t helped himself by not coming up with something believable before starting this conversation. “Nothing’s happening! Don’t worry, I just need to..uh… see it for a bit..” He held his hands out, cupped together, and smiled nervously as he waited for Ryuuji to comply. He, however, didn’t look any more at ease than he had been the moments prior. 

Silence sat between them for longer than either would have liked and with a huff Ryuu relented, unclasping the chain of his necklace and gently placing it in his boyfriend’s hands. He didn’t feel any better about this, but he wanted the moment to pass. “Bring it back soon…”

Jo nodded quickly before closing one of his fists around the necklace and shoving it into his pocket. “I will! Thank you!” He leaned over for a brief kiss. “See you soon.” He was grinning and Otogi forgot he was nervous for a moment.

Jonouchi took off immediately after. He had gotten an idea the other day from an ad that kept showing up on his phone- crystals and minerals like this used as scent diffusers… He wasn’t too good with his hands, but he didn’t want to buy a second necklace and he figured it would be easy enough to do. Otogi would love it- he was sure of that.

Or maybe he wouldn’t.

He realised pretty quickly that not only did he not know what he was doing, but he had also fucked the whole thing up and he didn’t know how to fix it. His carving skills were shotty at best and he had completely destroyed the wire that had been holding the crystal to the chain.

He held his bangs out of his face for a moment, breathed out his stress, and slowly slumped back into his chair. If he couldn’t fix this he wasn’t sure if Otogi would forgive him. He probably wouldn’t be dumped, but he’d definitely be in the dog house for a little bit. Ryuu loved this thing... 

The first call he made was to Honda. That guy was good fixing Jo’s fuck ups, he’d been doing it since they were in grade school. He didn’t answer immediately and while he wasn’t entitled to an immediate response, this was an emergency and he figured this once, he deserved one. He didn’t bother trying Honda’s phone for a second time, he wouldn’t have answered if he had. Jo couldn’t always get a hold of his buddy immediately, but he knew someone who could get him on the first ring- and Kaiba never missed a call.

The line was picked up on the third ring. Kaiba was a little slower than usual- and Jo didn’t need to guess why. 

“What?” Kaiba’s voice came through, displeased with the interruption. 

Jo exhaled, already relieved. “I need Honda here, like, three hours ago.”

There was silence for a moment. Kaiba knew how to do shit with phones, Jo figured he was on hold or something. “He’s on his way.”

He knew he could rely on them. “Tha-” Dial Tone. Kaiba didn’t even wait to be thanked. “Bastard.” He’d probably expect Jo to make it up to him anyway, a favour for a favour was usually how their friendship worked- they were both too proud to take something from each other without paying it back.

He decided to rest his hands for a moment while he waited on Honda to show. He had really made a mess.

He heard Honda at the door of the shed before it opened, he had let himself in and soon he was standing beside Jo who was still pretending to have no motor functions.

“What did you do?” He nudged Jonouchi’s shoulder with the back of his hand. “and how long is this going to take? I was in the middle of something.” 

Jo shrugged, gestured toward the pendant he’d been trying to upgrade. “Tryna do something for Ryuu…” He sat up properly, finally. “I guess I didn’t really know what I was doing..”

The mess on the desk was almost unrecognisable- but they’d all seen Otogi wearing that necklace for months now, Honda would be a bad friend if he couldn’t recognise it. “Holy shit dude..” he picked the crystal up, “Just uh… can you explain like exactly what you were trying to do here, bud?”

“You… you know, like, essential oils?” He already felt the shame and heat in his ears slowly spreading to his cheeks and throat. “Like a thing for that.. But uh..”

Honda shook his head. “Dude, you’re a disaster.” 

“Yea.. I know.” 

He pushed Jonouchi and his chair away from the project in progress. “Sit there, I’ll fix it- you can make it look pretty when I’m done.” 

Jo nodded before hiding his face between both of his hands. He had really wanted to do this on his own.. He should have practiced on something else first, right? Now he’d have to hear about it from both Honda and Kaiba- there was no way he was getting out of that. 

They sat there in silence for a few hours, he had been bored initially.. upset that he couldn’t do this on his own, but eventually pulled himself around to watching Honda work. He was good with this kind of thing.. 

Eventually he moved out of the way, pulled Jo- still in his chair, back to the desk. “Your turn.”

He didn’t leave just yet- instead he watched Jo over his shoulder, ready to assist with any additional fuck ups. There wasn’t all that much left to do, however- Honda had completed the brunt of the work while he was repairing the damage that had been done earlier in the evening. “I’ll be back..” Jo stood abruptly, realising he had left his cologne in the bathroom. He had meant to grab it while he was setting up his work station, but he hadn’t been thinking at the time.

He realised he might have a problem getting the liquid out, but if he had to break the lid then he’d break the lid- no way he was going to let anything else get in the way. A quick run to the bathroom and he was back, plopping down into his desk chair with a renewed energy- this was the part that had mattered to him the most. The stone itself reminded him of Ryuu’s eyes, but he wanted to make this more personal.. Something Ryuu could use to ground himself and be reminded that he had someone who loved him. The cologne was his scent.. and he had always felt at ease when he could soak in the scent of the person he loved- he figured it worked both ways.

He missed Ryuu already.

He noted the raised brow on Honda’s face as he used the needle nose pliers to rip off the nozzle and rim of the lid- he had looked up for only a moment to discard the pieces.

“I don’t wanna tell you how to run your life dude.. but I’m pretty sure that was a screw off.” Honda pinched the warped metal pieces between his fingers. “Yea… no, yea, they were.”

Jo scrunched his nose. “I’m already not having a good time… can I get, like, five minutes of you shutting up, bro.”

That got a laugh and a quick nod, Honda decided to wander away for a moment and let Jo do whatever he needed to do.

The only smart thing he had done, as he was noticing now, was buy a pack of pipets- without them he’d be trying to pour this powerfully scented liquid from one large opening into a much smaller one. A not smart thing he had done, was place the slow release capsule into the pendant before coating it in his cologne.

As he replaced the top of the necklace- screwing it back in with the grooves honda had carved into both pieces, his phone started to ring. He already knew who it was- there were only three people who ever really called him without texting first, and only Ryuu was cool enough to earn the light up sketchers song for his ringtone.

He set the now repaired necklace down on the desk and answered before the phone could ring for a second time. “Hey dude, what’s up?”

“Hey, I’m close to you right now- is it good if I come over?” He still sounded wary.. Jo didn’t pick up on it immediately but he was pretty sure that he was worried about the necklace still. Ryuu didn’t do too well with not knowing. 

He was already done, so it was fine to give it back now. He just hoped Ryuu didn’t hate it.. He wouldn’t, would he?

“Yea, come on- door’s open.” He tried his best to keep his voice level and seem calm, but he was a little nervous and sure that his words were still shaky because of it. 

There was a moment of hesitation, and now he was sure that his unease had been picked up on. “Okay, I’m turning the corner now, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay, see you soon!” He chirped in a pitch he hadn’t been aiming for and immediately felt his face heat up. He did himself the favour and hung up first.

He swiveled his chair around, immediately meeting Honda’s eyes. “Ryuu’s on his way- you should dip.”

“How close is he? Should I climb out a window?” Honda snorted at his own suggestion.

Jou knew immediately what had to be done. “Yea- make sure he doesn’t see you, before you complain you owe me from all the other times.”

Honda had to give himself a moment to buffer and process the request before swiftly nodding. “Yea, alright- got me there.”

Honda had no sooner slipped out the back window than Otogi had opened the front door- of course he had seen, but he opted not to say anything about it. If he was trying not to be seen it was useless, his bike had been parked out front- Otogi parked behind him. There was no point in asking- these guys got stupid when they were together.

“So… uhm..” He closed the door behind himself, tilted his head as he watched Jo trip over himself to get to the desk. “can I have my necklace back now…?” When Jo tried to make eye contact, Ryuu broke it immediately. He was definitely overthinking things. 

Jo’s heart felt heavy suddenly, the guilt from leaving so much room for doubt with Ryuu was enough to make him rethink his entire plan. If only it had been enough before he asked..  
“Yea, I’m done with it… just uh, if you hate it.. be honest..ok? I’ll replace it..” He picked it up by the chain, which was no longer broken, and brought it over to Ryuu. 

“It doesn’t look the same..” He spoke quietly, concern apparent. Of course he had been expecting to get it back in the same condition.

Jo nodded. “Yea.. I uh… I had a little trouble but, I made it into a perfume.. pendant…, I think…” He couldn’t find the right words to explain it, and felt his heart pick up. “Oh, smell it! It’s uh-”

Otogi had lifted the necklace to his nose, and interrupted Jo after he realised what he was trying to say. “Oh- It smells like you.” He felt a lot better now, suddenly, and he already knew the reason why. 

“So, uh.. Do you.. Like it..?”

Ryuuji’s response didn’t come immediately- he fiddled with the chain while looking down, not to the necklace, he wasn’t really sure if he was seeing anything at all at this moment. He knew he was happy with it, but there was something else.

“I…. think I really love you.”


End file.
